The Buick Riviera was first launched in 1963 as a personal luxury coupe positioned against the Ford Thunderbird and Cadillac Eldorado. Its sharp styling and front-engine, rear-drive layout set the tone for eight generations that followed. The early cars gained attention in the US for their clean design, but the Riviera was not widely sold outside North America and rarely carried alternative names in export markets.

Through the 1970s and 1980s the Buick Riviera grew larger, reflecting changing American tastes. A major shift came in 1979 when it moved to GM’s front-wheel-drive E-body platform, sharing its underpinnings with the Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado. Later models offered turbocharged V6 and V8 engines, as well as digital dashboards that highlighted Buick’s push into new technology. By the 1990s, the Riviera adopted smoother styling and a supercharged V6 option.

Production of the Buick Riviera ended in 1999 after more than 1.1 million units. A concept car appeared in 2007 with modern coupe styling but no production model followed. Today the Riviera name remains dormant, remembered as one of Buick’s longest-running luxury coupes. It sits in the same historical space as rivals like the Lincoln Mark series, reflecting a period when US brands focused on prestige two-door models.